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Gold coins, gold bullion, silver coins, and silver bullion are the best investments for gold and silver investors. The best gold bullion coins and silver bullion coins are summarized on this page. For more information on gold and silver bullion and coins, visit other pages on this Web site.

"Precious metals have had value in all civilizations, have survived all financial crises, and can be expected to do the same in the future. However, it is to all investors' interests that they know what they are doing before investing in precious metals."

Bill Haynes
President
CMI Gold & Silver, Inc.

Does your gold have to be reported?

NO!

Gold purchases do not have to be reported. This myth is so pervasive that CMI feels obligated to clarify this misunderstanding repeatedly.

Gold and Silver for Survival Purposes

Generally, investors buy gold or silver for one of three purposes: as an investment, as an inflation hedge, or for survival purposes. Investors who buy for investment purposes tend to view gold and silver as commodities, whose prices fluctuate because of supply/demand fundamentals. For example, in 1998 Warren Buffett completed the purchase of 129.7 million ounces of silver. Buffett's purchase, which became legendary in only a few years, was probably for investment purposes. However, it may have been an inflation hedge; Buffett's not saying. In fact, Buffett has said very little about his silver investment. One thing is certain, however, it was not for survival purposes.

Investors who fear inflation, either price inflation or monetary inflation (which causes price inflation), buy gold or silver as inflation hedges. During the 1970s, precious metals prices skyrocketed in response to price inflation that reached 13%. During the 70s, popular precious metals investments included everything from 1-oz silver rounds and pre-1965 U.S. 90% silver coins to 100-oz silver bars and 1-oz Krugerrands. When the Federal Reserve got inflation under control in the 1980s, much of the gold and silver bought in the 1970s was sold and the proceeds put back in paper investments.

Investors who buy for survival purposes fear the worst. Those fears include the Federal Reserve printing so many dollars that the dollar will become worthless, which is the history of all paper currencies not redeemable in gold or silver. Fear of a financial meltdown, which would close banks as in Argentina and Paraguay in 2002, is another.

Argentineans and Paraguayans who had to foresight to bailout of the banking systems and covert their assets to gold or silver were protected. Not only did banks close, but also when they reopened depositors were limited to the amount of money they could withdraw. Meanwhile, the Argentinean peso and the Paraguayan guarani sank in value. Shortly after those crises, Brazil defaulted on its international debt and its real sank.

Those are the kinds of situations that investors who buy for survival purposes want to protect against. In doing so, these investors buy gold and silver in forms that can be used for money or to barter for goods and services.

The best forms of silver for survival purposes are pre-1965 U.S. 90% coins and 1-oz silver rounds. The most useful forms of gold would be 1/10-oz Gold Eagles and 1/4-oz Gold Eagles. But, before going forward, it is imperative that we discuss which coins to avoid. That is because hundreds of web pages promote numismatic and collector coins, as well as foreign coins. Such coins are simply wrong for survival purposes.

If the time ever comes that gold and silver coins were again used as money, coins would be worth only their metal content. Numismatic (collector) premiums would disappear. Anyone using gold or silver coins to buy goods or services would not be asked, "What's the mint mark on your coin?" Nor will they be asked, "When was it minted?" The question would be, "What's the gold content?" Hand someone a St. Gaudens and tell him it contains .9675 ounce of gold, and it will be difficult--if not impossible--to convince him to accept it at more than .9675 times the price of gold.

If you ever need to use your gold and silver to buy goods and services, you will want silver coins and small gold coins. Additionally, those coins should have certain characteristics to ensure they are readily accepted. First, survival coins should be stamped in English. Most Americans do not read foreign languages.

Second, the coins should have their gold or silver contents stamped on them; except for the bullion coins, most do not. In an emergency, having the gold content stamped on a coin could go a long way toward causing someone to accept it.

If your furnace goes out in January, the local heating guy may have never seen a gold coin before. If you hand him a $20 St. Gaudens, how does he know it contains a little less than an ounce? If you try to get him to take British Sovereigns, how can you prove they contain .2354 ounce each? Try convincing the guy at the auto parts store that a French 20 franc contains .1867 ounce of gold.

Call CMI at 1-800-528-1380 for answers to any questions or clarifications. Our hours are 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Mountain Standard Time, Mondays through Fridays. Our offices are in the middle of the Phoenix, Arizona financial district. CMI has had the same bank account since its inception in 1973. References available on request